Implant Can Help Denture Wearers

January 12, 1985|By Jean Marbella, Medical Writer

HOLLYWOOD — Loose dentures, the stuff of countless television commercials, are not an inevitable part of growing old.

About 375 oral and maxillofacial surgeons, meeting at the Diplomat Hotel this weekend to discuss the care of geriatric patients, will learn about various dental implants that can do away with denture problems.

People who lose their teeth often find their lower jaw bones gradually shrinking away, leaving them without adequate support for their dentures.

But a relatively new procedure in which a bone substitute is used to build up the shrunken jawbone offers hope to the predominantly elderly patients with this problem, said Dr. Randal James, an oral surgeon who will address the group.

James pioneered the use of hydroxylapatite, a calcium phosphate material that has been used to rebuild the jaws of more than 600 patients.

James, who trained at the University of Florida, did the first surgery with the material in 1978 as part of the series of experiments that led to approval of its use by the Food and Drug Administration four years ago.

There have been few complications, and patients seem very pleased with it, he said.

In the past, other materials were used to rebuild jaws, but they sometimes caused problems such as infection or further shrinkage. Sometimes, surgeons would take a bone graft from another part of the body for use in the jaw, he said.

``Hydroxylapatite is an improvement because we don`t have to violate the body to get bone to use,`` said James. ``And it can be an office procedure, which saves money.``

James said the procedure costs $1,000 to $2,000.

The doctors also will discuss a procedure imported from Sweden in which a titanium fixture is implanted into the bone and used to anchor dentures, bridges or individual teeth.

``Then you don`t have to take the dentures out, ever. It`s basically like having teeth again,`` said Dr. Kent Cohenour of Oklahoma City, one of the organizers of the conference.

The titanium implants actually become integrated with the surrounding bony tissue, Cohenour said.

The implants have been researched in Sweden for about 20 years, but were only recently brought to this continent, he said.

The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons will hold its meeting at the Diplomat today and tomorrow.